WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State junior Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.) racked up three hits including an eighth inning grand slam, but Western New England rallied in the 11th inning to defeat the Owls 6-5 on Monday afternoon from Trelease Park in Springfield, Mass.
The Owls fall to 4-7 on the season while Western New England improves to 9-4-1 overall.
Westfield was held scoreless through the first seven innings of the game until the Owls mounted an empathic eighth inning rally. Kyle Darby (South Windsor, Conn.) started the inning with a pinch hit single to left. Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) followed with a one-out single, putting runners on first and second with one out.
With two outs in the frame, Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.) kept the frame alive with single into right field, setting up Burnett who belted a towering grand slam to left field to temporarily give the Owls a 4-3 lead.
The Golden Bears answered with the tying run in the bottom half of the eighth. Jack Loftus (Hanover, N.H.) roped a leadoff double, then a sacrifice bunt from Jake Gerraughty (Mansfield, Mass.) moved Loftus to third with one down.
A big strikeout from Owls starter from Joe Fischer (Avon, Mass.) on Aaron Cole (Forestdale, Mass.) kept Westfield in the lead, but a two-out single from Kohtaro Shimada (Woburn, Mass.) drove in the equalizer to plate the tying run.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Golden Bears attempted to walk off the game beginning with John Bova (Trumbull, Conn.) who led of the frame with a double. Paul Villecco (Cheshire, Conn.) followed with a fly ball to center field which was caught by Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) with the throw coming back into second base where it was decided that Bova left second early, generating the second out of the game.
Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) entered the frame with runners on first and second with two out, forcing a popup to shortstop Trey Faulkner (Springfield, Mass.) to end the scoring threat.
Both teams went down in order in the tenth inning. In the 11th inning, Burnett singled to center to lead off the inning. A sac bunt from Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.) moved Burnett to second, and a passed ball advanced him to third.
Faulkner delivered another clutch two-out hit for the Owls, lacing a shot into right field to score Burnett and give the Owls a 5-4 advantage.
Despite the tally in the 11th inning, the Golden Bears got the final answer of the contest. Bova ripped a leadoff home run to not only tie the game, but to complete the cycle after going 4-4. A single and a walk set up Cody Waterbury (Danbury, Conn.) for a walk-off hit down the leftfield line to send Western New England to their ninth victory of the season.
The Golden Bears built an early three run lead with extra base hits playing a key role in taking the lead. Gerraught brought home Loftus after a triple with a sacrifice fly in the second, and a Villecco triple in the third opened up a 2-0 Western New England lead. Villecco added an RBI double in the seventh to pad the lead prior to the Owls late inning rally.
Luke Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) got the start for the Owls, tossing a quality start by allowing two runs in six innings. Espinola (L, 0-1) was tagged with the loss after surrendering his first earned runs of the season.
Jacob Hobart (Hudson, N.H.) put together a terrific start on the mound for the Golden Bears, cruising through seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth frame. He finished the outing by firing 7.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts. Sean Hogan (Bayville, N.Y.) recorded the win in relief.
Westfield State will face off against Coast Guard in their next matchup in the regular season home opener from Hagan Field on Wednesday at 3:30 P.M.